Little Dennis - Castle Drive, Falmouth, UK - Preserved Architectural Remnants and Ruins on Waymarking.com

The tiny fort known as Little Dennis is probably the oldest building in the Falmouth area, it was constructed by the Tudors nearly 500 years ago. Little Dennis was built straight onto the bedrock, close to the highwater line, looking out across the sweep of Falmouth Bay towards the Roseland Peninsula, St Mawes and beyond.

Pendennis Point has always been of strategic importance. The name comes from the Cornish, "pen" meaning headland, and "dynas" meaning castle or fort. Its position and geology, a narrow, rocky finger jutting out into the sea within the sheltered bay, not only makes the promontory a perfect outlook point but also easier to defend.

Little Dennis is of course not really a castle, it is a Tudor blockhouse or artillery fort. It was built at the instruction of Henry VIII as part of his chain of coastal defenses. Little Dennis was completed in 1539 and was the first of the fortifications on Pendennis Point. It was positioned to defend the sea lanes and the entrance to Falmouth harbour from invading foreign warships and pirates.

Little Dennis is built of killas rubble with granite dressing stones directly onto the bedrock. D-shaped, its walls are nearly 3m thick and miniature battlements face seawards. Inside there is a large granite fireplace and the remains of a staircase. The wooden roof is gone of course, but you can still see the stone sockets for the beams. The fort is just 9m wide by 10m long and was really built as an interim measure before the larger Pendennis Castle that now towers over it could be completed.

The main gunport makes a great view across to St Mawes castle opposite. It faces straight across the entrance to the harbour and Little Dennis Blockhouse was equipped with three heavy guns.

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Type: Ruin Fee: Free Hours: Open all hours Related URL: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log   07/07/2022 MoreOutdoor visited it